Horizontal humidifier



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 5, 1964 Z m 9 6 2 W INVENTOR ROY P SKERRITTFIG.4

BY ATTORNEYS Oct. 12, 1965 R. P. SKERRITT HORIZONTAL HUMIDIFIER 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 5, 1964 4 I FIGZQ INVENTOR ROY P. SKERRITT BYW v ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,211,380 HGRIZONTAL HUMIDIFIER RoyP. Skerritt, 18411 Inkster Road, Livonia, Mich. Filed June 5, 1964, Ser.No. 372,827 4 Claims. (Cl. 239-43) This invention relates to humidifiersand, in particular, to humidifiers installed in heating and/ orventilating systems.

Hitherto, humidifiers installed in heating and/or ventilating systemshave been usually of inadequate humidifying capacity to properlyhumidity the space intended to be humidified. The principal reason forthis inadequacy lay in the fact that it was impossible or impractical tomount a suflicient number of humidifying plates or other humidifyingstructures within a heater or heating duct of sufficient area to providean adequate rate and volume of evaporation of water to properly humiditythe heated space, more especially since these humidifying plates weremounted vertically in spaced parallel relationship. The humidifyingaction of prior humidifiers has been further hampered by the fact thatmost of them operate on the principle of the upflow of water bycapillary attraction through a porous humidifier plate or sheet, withthe result that lime deposited from the water under the action of heatupon hard water has clogged the pores in these plates or sheets andconsequently at first slowed down and eventually terminated thehumidifying action by blocking the upward flow of water. The same lime,precipitated out as dust upon the bare metallic surfaces of priormetallic humidifier water deflectors and pans has been easily blown offthese smooth bare surfaces and conveyed through the ducts by the forcedair stream, to be deposited as dust upon furniture and floors.

The humidifier of the present invention eliminates these defects andaccomplishes adequate humidification in the manner set forth below inthe specification and summarized in the following objects of theinvention.

Accordingly, one object of this invention is to provide ahorizontal-air-flow humidifier for heating and ventilating systems whichenables the area of the capillary water-evaporating material to beenormously increased in contrast to prior humidifiers.

Another object is to provide a humidifier of the foregoing characterwherein the humidifier sheets are suspended and wherein the water issupplied from the top upon .an approximately plate-shapeddownwardly-sloping water distributor covered with porous capillary sheetmaterial and descends therein with the aid of capillary attraction whilethe air moves in a generally horizontal path past the humidifier sheets,thereby enabling the sheets to be much thinner and of greater heightthan is possible with humidifier capillary plates drawing water upwardfrom a pan in which the plates are standing, the thin sheet-s presentingless obstruction to the flow of air than the necessarily thickupstanding humidifier plates, the thickness of which is required forsuflicient structural strength.

This is a continuation-in-part of, and an improvement effecting superiorwater distribution over my co-pending application Serial No. 851,922filed November 9, 1959 for Horizontal-AinFlow Humidifier, now U. S.Patent No. 3,136,829 issued June 9, 1964.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring the course of the following description of the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a central longitudinal section through a heating andventilating duct and an evaporator installed therein, according to oneform of the invention, taken along the line 1--1 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the humidifier, with ice the air duct inhorizontal section, taken along the line 22 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross section taken along the line 33 in FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4 is a generally horizontal section with the lowest pan in topplan view, taken along the generally horizontal but partly inclined line44 in FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 show ahumidifier, generally designating 10, according to one form of theinvention as mounted in a rectangular aperture 12 in the bottom wall 14of an air duct, generally designated 16, of a heating and/or ventilatingsystem (not shown), the duct 16 having parallel vertical sides 18 and atop wall 20. The duct 16 is conventional together with the heatingand/or ventilating system to which it is connected, and its details arebeyond the scope of the present invention. The duct 16, however, isassumed to be substantially horizontal for the purpose of the presentinvention, so that the air to be humidified moves in a generallyhorizontal path through the air passageway 22 within the duct 16, asindicated by the upper arrows in FIGURE 1.

The humidifier 10 consists generally of a pan structure 23 including alower component 26 and an upper component 28 disposed one above theother in verticallyspace-d relationship and having lower, intermediateand upper pans 30, 32 and 34 respectively. The intermediate pan 32 alsoserves as a cover member for the lower pan 30, while the upper pan 34serves as a top member for the humidifier 10. The lower pan 30 has abottom wall 36 (FIGURES 1 and 3) which is inclined slightly downwardlyfrom steeply inclined end walls 38 and 40 and substantially verticalside walls 42. The lower pan 30 is provided at its periphery with hollowdouble-flanged end and side edge mounting portions 44 and 46respectively suitably drilled in alignment to receive bolts 48 by whichthe humidifier is secured to the bottom wall 14 of the duct 16 adjacentthe aperture 12 therein. The bottom wall 36 at its central lowest pointis apertured and provided with a recessed drain connection coupling 50to which a lower drain pipe 52 is connected. The bottom wall 36 near itsjunction with the end wall 40 is also apertured and provided with anoverflow fitting 54 to which an overflow pipe 56 is connected, thecoupling 54 having a riser portion 58 which regulates the desired depthof the water in the lower pan 30. The end wall 40 is additionallyapertured to receive a coupling 60 for a drain pipe 62 from theintermediate pan 32. Each of the drain pipes 52 and 62 is in turnconnected by way of a suitable normally-closed shutofl? valve (notshown) to a drain (also not shown). The shutoff valves of the drainpipes 52 and 62 are kept closed during operation and opened at the endof the heating season or whenever it is desired to drain 01f all waterand foreign matter, as well as to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes inthe otherwise waterfilled pans during the summer months when the heatingsystem is not in operation.

Secured as by Welding to the opposite side walls 42 of the lower pan 30are elongated horizontal angle brackets 64 (FIGURE 3) upon which reststhe bottom wall 66 of the intermediate pan 32. The latter isshallowly-inclined from its parallel vertical side walls 68 with theirupper edge flanges 69 and from its steeply-inclined end walls 70 to acentral overflow fitting 72 at its lowest point, the overflow fitting 72having a riser portion 74 determining the desired depth of water in theintermediate pan 32.

The opposite end walls 70 of the intermediate pan 32 are provided withhorizontal rows of laterally-spaced holes 76 arranged on the samehorizontal level and serving to receive humidifying sheet frames,generally designated 78, of isosceles trapezoidal shape with parallellower and upper rod portions 80 and 82 (FIGURE 1) and inclined end rodportions 84. The upper rod portion 82 is parted as at 86 to receive acoupling ferrule 88. The holes 76 are so located and the frame end rodportions 84 of such lengths as to locate the bottom rod portion 80 ofeach frame 78 beneath the bottom Wall 66 in spaced relationshiptherewith. Draped over the lower and upper portions 80 and 82 of theframes 78 are the loops .90 and 92 of lower and upper undulatorycapillary humidifying sheets 94 and 96 respectively. The undulatorycapillary sheets 94 and 96 are made from any suitable capillary sheetmaterial, such as fibrous glass sheet material having a porous texturepossessing a capillary action upon the water being evaporated. Drapedover and secured to the opposite end walls 70 of the intermediate pan 32are capillary humidifying sheets 98 of U-shaped cross-section (FIGURE 1)riveted or otherwise secured thereto, these being of the same capillarymaterial mentioned above. The bottom wall 66 of the intermediate pan 32,near its junction with one of the end walls 70, is recessed andapertured as at 100 to receive the upper end of the intermediate drainpipe 62.

The upper pan 34 of the upper component 28 is not a pan with enclosingside walls as in the case of the lower and intermediate pans 30 and 32,but has a shallowly-inclined bottom wall 102 With downwardly-extendingopposite lateral edge flanges 4 extending longitudinally along theentire length of the bottom wall 102. T he pan 34 also has steeplyinclined opposite ends 106 Wit-h opposite lateral edge flanges 108.Stretched laterally across the bottom wall 102 and extending over thelower and upper sides thereof are the lower and upper courses 107 and109 of a humidifier element 110 in the shape of an endless loopresembling that of a roller towel. The lower course 107 rests upon thetops of the loops 92 of the upper undulatory humidifying sheet 96, whichin turn rests upon the upper rod portions 82 of the frames 78. Thehumidifier element 110 is held down against the tops of the loops 92 bytwo parallel cross rods 112 (FIGURES 1 and 3), the opposite ends ofwhich project laterally beneath the upper edge flanges 69 of the sidewalls 68 of the intermediate pan 32.

The central or lowest portion of the bottom wall 102 of the upper pan 34is provided with an aperture 114 which is straddled by an invertedU-sh'aped bracket 116 to which is connected a threaded fitting 118 forthe lower end of a water supply pipe 120. The fitting 118 has adownwardly-extending tubular portion 122 through which the water dripsonto a porous capillary water-distributing fabric sheet 119 covering theapex 1'21 and the four shallowly inclined walls 123 defined by the crossribs 125 of an approximately plate-shaped but slightly-pyramidal waterdistributor 127. The water distributor 127 rests upon but is slightlysmaller than the bottom wall 102 of the upper pan 34 so that the Waterflows from the water distributor 12 7 onto a relatively narrowrectangular marginal zone 129 of the upper course of the humidifierelement 110. The bracket 116 is bolted or other wise secured to thebottom wall 102.

The water supply pipe 120 passes through a hole 124 in the upper wall ofthe duct 16 and is provided with any suitable conventional regulatoryvalve 126, which in turn is connected by a pipe 128 to a suitable sourceof water supply, such as the domestic cold water main. The right-handend walls 70 and 106 of the intermediate and upper pans 26 and 28 alsoserve as air deflectors or scoops to intercept and deflect air passingthrough the air duct passageway 22 downward through thedownwardly-offset central portions of the humidifier air channels orpassageways 130 and 132 between the pans 30, 32 and 34.

In the operation of the invention, with the humidifier 10 installed andconnected as above described and with the overflow and drain pipes 56,52 and 62 connected to a suitable drain but with the drain pipes 52 and62 closed by their respective shutoff valves, the operator opens theregulatory valve 126 (FIGURE 1) to supply water through the water supplypipe 120 from the pipe 128, whence it drips through the tubular portion122 of the fitting 118 onto the porous capillary water-distributingfabric sheet 119 of the water distributor 127 and thence with the aid ofcapillary attraction onto the marginal zone 129 of the upper course 109of the humidifying element 110. From here, part of the water spreads outhorizontally by capillarity over the upper course 109 and around thelateral edge flanges 104 to the lower course 107. The remainder of theWater drips through the pores of the upper course 110 and through theaperture 114 directly onto the central portion of the lower course 107,whence it spreads laterally toward the edges thereof. Thus, the waterdistributor 127 with the aid of capillary attraction effects a more evendistribution of the water by preventing it from being concentrated atthe center of the upper pan 34, and at the same time prevents theformation of dry lime dust thereon and consequently prevents theconveying and deposit of such dust upon furniture by the forced airstream.

When the upper humidifying element 110 becomes saturated, the excesswater drips downward to the intermediate pan 32 of the intermediatecomponent 26, whence it falls upon the loops 92 of the upper undulatorcapillary humidifying sheet 96. This water spreads through the latter bycapillary attraction and, when the saturation point is reached, dripsonto the bottom wall 66 of the intermediate pan 32. This pan graduallyfills up with Water until the level rises to the top of the riser 74 ofthe overflow fitting 72, whereupon further arrival of water passesdownward through the riser 74 onto the loops of the lower undulatorycapillary humidifying sheet 94. When the latter becomes saturated,further arrival of water drips off the loops 90 onto the inclined bottomwall 36. The water rises in the lower pan 30 until it reaches the top ofthe riser 58 of the overflow fitting 54 whence it escapes through theoverflow pipe 56.

Meanwhile, the air which has been heated by the heating apparatus andforced through the duct 16 by a blower or other suitable means, passesin a generally horizontal direction through the lower and upper channels130 and 132 respectively (FIGURE 1) between the lower pan 30,intermediate pan 32 and upper pan 34, picking up water not only from thecapillary sheet material of the upper capillary element and theintermediate and lower capillary elements 96 and 94, but also from thesurface of the water in the intermediate and lower pans 32 and 30respectively. From FIGURE 1 it will be seen that the top member or upperpan 34 and the intermediate and lower pans 32 and 30 respectively aredisposed in partially nested relationship, and that the end walls 40, 70and 106 of the lower, intermediate and upper pans 30, 32 and 34respectively are inclined relatively to one another to produce aso-called venturi effect which accelerates the flow of air through thelower and upper channels and 132 respectively. Meanwhile, air passingthrough the upper course 109 of the upper capillary element 110 picks upfurther moisture and adds this to the stream of air passing through theduct 16.

In this manner, the duct 16 delivers a supply of highlyhumidified air ina large volume to the room or other space being heated and/orventilated, and thus accomplishes humidification in a rapid, efiicientand economical way.

What I claim is:

1. A horizontal humidifier, comprising an elongated generally horizontalupper pan having longitudinally-spaced end walls inclined upwardly awayfrom one another,

an elongated generally horizontal water pan disposed under said upperpan and having laterally-spaced opposite side walls,longitudinally-spaced end walls inclined upwardly away from one another,and a bottom wall,

means for supporting said pans in vertically-spaced relationship,

porous capillary water-evaporating fabric sheets disposed in said pans,

an approximately plate-shaped water distributor disposed above andsloping downwardly toward said upper pan,

a porous capillary Water-distributing sheet mounted upon said waterdistributor and sloping downwardly thereon into close proximity to theporous capillary Water-evaporating sheet of said upper pan,

and means for supplying water to said water-distributing sheet.

2. A horizontal humidifier, according to claim 1, wherein said waterdistributor and water-distributing sheet are narrower than said upperpan and provide a water-receiving marginal zone on said waterevaporating fabric sheet of said upper pan.

3. A horizontal humidifier, according to claim 2, wherein said waterdistributor has a central apex disposed at the top thereof and sidesinclined downwardly away from said apex.

4. A horizontal humidifier, acoording to claim 2, wherein said waterdistributor has upstanding cross ribs thereon defining and dividing saidwater distributor into a pluralty of separated walls.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,278,866 9/18Bibbee 261-406 2,035,728 3/36 Stanton 23943 2,428,922 10/47 'Shoresrnan261-97 3,136,829 6/ 64 Skerritt 98--30 EVER'ETT W. KIRBY, PrimaryExaminer.

1. A HORIZONTAL HUMIDIFIER, COMPRISING AN ELONGATED GENERALLY HORIZONTALUPPER PAN HAVING LONGITUDINALLY-SPACED END WALLS INCLINED UPWARDLY AWAYFROM ONE ANOTHER, AN ELONGATED GENERALLY HORIZONTAL WATER PAN DISPOSEDUNDER SAID UPPER PAN AND HAVING LATERALLY-SPACED OPPOSITE SIDE WALLS,LONGITUDINAL-SPACED END WALLS INCLINED UPWARDLY AWAY FROM ONE ANOTHER,AND A BOTTOM WALL, MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID PAN IN VERTICALLY-SHAPEDRELATIONSHIP,